County Judge candidates go head-to-head in runoff election

With early voting over and election day coming up this Tuesday, the two remaining County Judge Candidates, John Cook and Ricardo Samaniego are running against each other.

They agree on what the main issues will be, but their top priorities differ.

“Our biggest challenge I think is going to be our downtown jail. The downtown jail was finished I think around 1987, it was built to standards that applied then that don’t apply now,” Cook said.

“You talk about people moving into areas that are undeveloped. Well if we have a good plan we can get the infrastructure, the roads, the bridges ahead of time,” Samaniego explained.

While the candidates may have different priorities when it comes to what will be the biggest issue the next county judge will face, they both agree the future of El paso county will need to find a solid balance between economic development and historic preservation.

“We have a lot of historic buildings, probably in the neighborhood of 35, 40 Triost buildings,” Cook said.

“We have to make sure that you’re not tearing down too many of those structures that are architecturally or historically significant”

“I’m interested in economic development and not preservation for the sake of preservation,” Samaniego said.
“When people come in to see our beautiful buildings and especially our beautiful weather they’ll stay and enjoy the downtown development.”

Both candidates will be guests on ABC-7 Xtra, Sunday at 10:35 pm.